Page:The Katha Sarit Sagara.djvu/206

 why does your mother weep for you?" Then the man told him his story.

" Long ago Kadrú and Vinatá, the two wives of Kaśyapa,.had a dispute in the course of a conversation which they were carrying on. The former said that the Sun's horses were black, the latter that they were white, and they made an agreement that the one that was wrong should become a slave to the other.* Then Kadrú, bent on winning, actually induced her sons, the snakes, to defile the horses of the Sun by spitting venom over them; and shewing them to Vinatá in that condition, she conquered her by a trick and made her her slave: terrible is the spite of women against each other ! When Garuda the son of Vinatá heard of that, he came and tried to induce Kadrú by fair means to release Vinatá from her slavery; then the snakes, the sons of Kadrú, reflecting, said this to him; " O Garuda, the gods have began to churn the sea of milk, bring the nectar thence and give it to us as a substitute, and then take your mother away with you, for you are the chief of heroes.' When Garuda heard that, he went to the sea of milk, and displayed his great might in order to obtain the nectar. Then the god Vishnu pleased with his might deigned to say to him, ' I am pleased with thee, choose some boon.' Then Garuda, angry because his mother was made a slave, asked as a boon from Vishnu— ' May the snakes become my food.' Vishnu consented, and when Garuda had obtained the nectar by his own valour, he was thus addressed by Indra who had heard the whole story: 'King of birds, you must take steps to prevent the foolish snakes from consuming the nectar, and to enable me to take it away from them again.' When Garuda heard that, he agreed to do it, and elated by the boon of Vishnu, he went to the snakes with the vessel containing the nectar. And he said from a distance to those foolish snakes, who were terrified on account of the boon granted to him, " Here is the nectar brought by me, release my mother and take it; if you are afraid, I will put it for you on a bed of Darbha grass. When I have procured my mother's release, I will go; take the nectar thence." The snakes consented, and then he put the vessel of nectar on a pure bed of Kuśa grass,† f and they let his mother go. So Garuda departed, having thus released his mother from slavery; but while the snakes were unsuspectingly taking the nectar, Indra suddenly swooped down, and bewildering them by his power, carried off the vessel of nectar from the bed of Kuśa grass. Then the snakes in despair lieked that bed of Darbha grass, thinking there might be a drop of spilt nectar on it; the effect was that their tongues were split, and they became double-tongued